Summary
The classic that never goes out of style...
The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition
by William Strunk Jr., and E.B. White
"Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all sentences short, or avoid all detail and treat his subject only in outline, but that every word tell." --William Strunk, Jr.
Making "every word tell" is what The Elements of Style is all about. This famous manual, now in its fourth edition, has conveyed the principles of plain English style to more than ten million readers.
For every generation of writers -- past, present, and future -- The Elements of Style is the classic style manual. |
Table of Contents
FOREWORD.
INTRODUCTION.
I. ELEMENTARY RULES OF USAGE.
1. Form the Possessive Singular of Nouns by Adding 's.
2. In a Series of Three or More Terms with a Single Conjunction, Use a Comma after Each Term except the Last.
3. Enclose Parenthetic Expressions between Commas.
4. Place a Comma before a Conjunction Introducing an Independent Clause.
5. Do Not Join Independent Clauses with a Comma.
6. Do Not Break Sentences in Two.
7. Use a Colon after an Independent Clause to Introduce a List of Particulars, an Appositive, an Amplification, or an Illustrative Question.
8. Use a Dash to Set Off an Abrupt Break or Interruption and to Announce a Long Appositive or Summary.
9. The Number of the Subject Determines the Number of the Verb.
10. Use the Proper Case of Pronoun.
11. A Participial Phrase at the Beginning of the Sentence Must Refer to the Grammatical Subject.
II. ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF COMPOSITION.
12. Choose a Suitable Sesign and Hold to It.
13. Make the Paragraph the unit of Composition.
14. Use the Active Voice.
15. Put Statements in Positive Form.
16. Use Definite, Specific, Concrete Language.
17. Omit Needless Words.
18. Avoid a Succession of Loose Sentences.
19. Express Coordinate Ideas in Similar Form.
20. Keep Related Words Together.
21. In Summaries, Keep to One Tense.
22. Place the Emphatic Words of a Sentence at the End.
III. A FEW MATTERS OF FORM.
IV. WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS COMMONLY MISUSED.
V. AN APPROACH TO STYLE (WITH A LIST OF REMINDERS).
1. Place Yourself in the Background.
2. Write in a Way That Comes Naturally.
3. Work From a Suitable Style.
4. Write with Nouns and Verbs.
5. Revise and Rewrite.
6. Do Not Overwrite.
7. Do Not Overstate.
8. Avoid the Use of Qualifiers.
9. Do Not Affect a Breezy Manner.
10. Use Orthodox Spelling.
11. Do Not Explain Too Much.
12. Do Not Construct Awkward Adverbs.
13. Make Sure the Reader Knows Who is Speaking.
14. Avoid Fancy Words.
15. Do Not Use Dialect Unless Your Ear Is Good.
16. Be Clear.
17. Do Not Inject Opinion.
18. Use Figures of Speech Sparingly.
19. Do Not Take Shortcuts at the Cost of Clarity.
20. Avoid Foreign Languages.
21. Prefer the Standard to the Offbeat.
Afterword.
Glossary. |
